$100 in 2004 is worth $170 in 2025,
because prices increased 70.4% over that period, an average of
2.57% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$170
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
70.4%
Average inflation rate
2.57% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$170
Price difference ($100 base)
$70.43
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 2004 → 2025
$170
$100 in 2025 → 2004
$58.67
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2025
Between 2004 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 70.4%, which works out to an average of
2.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.59 buys in 2025: the 2004 dollar
lost 41.3% of its purchasing power over
these 21 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in 2004, with a 29-cent jump in the price of gasoline, to $1.88 a
gallon, doing much of the work. Crude oil passed $50 a barrel in October on rising demand
from China and India. The Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in four years on
June 30, to 1.25%, and it kept going: 17 consecutive quarter-point increases took the rate to
5.25% by June 2006. Housing was already running ahead of incomes. The median household earned
about $44,300, up 2.3% from 2003, while the median new home sold for $221,000, up about 13%. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15, unchanged since
1997.
Every 2004 amount converts to 2025 at the same ratio, 1.70: $1,000 becomes
$1,704, and $10,000 becomes $17,043.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2025
$1.00
$1.70
$5.00
$8.52
$10.00
$17.04
$20.00
$34.09
$50.00
$85.22
$100
$170
$500
$852
$1,000
$1,704
$5,000
$8,522
$10,000
$17,043
$100,000
$170,430
$1,000,000
$1,704,304
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2025
Between 2004 and 2025, medical care rose the most, up 87.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 9.1%, against 70.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.57%
$170
Medical care
3.03%
$187
Energy
2.96%
$185
Housing
2.92%
$183
Food
2.90%
$182
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.47%
$167
Transportation
2.47%
$167
Education & communication
1.31%
$131
Recreation
1.25%
$130
Apparel
0.41%
$109
Decade by decade: 2004 to 2025
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.46% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2004–2025 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2004, at end
2004–2010
2.42%
15.4%
$115
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$137
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$170
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $125 by
2014, on its way to $170 in 2025; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $170; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2025: $100 is worth $170 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2025/